CESARE: HAKAI NO SOUZOUSHA

DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

MANGA DramaCesare: Hakai no Souzousha Tokubetsu-hen, Futari no Kyoshou

REVIEWS

• 

  Hannelore

  81/100
  Historical manga at its best.

  Historical manga enjoys a good position among the various genres out there, and while it is not one of the most popular ones, well done it can be genuinely epic and transcendental. Examples like Vinland Saga, Vagabond, The Rose Of Versailles and Kingdom are some of the best known. However, and before getting into the review itself, I have noticed that many manga call themselves "historical" without really being so, confusing the genre, and making the search for those who are only interested in historical manga as such cumbersome. So, what defines and differentiates a historical manga from those that, despite the similarities, are not? You will find many manga being called "historical" that are not; it does not matter, for example, that Battle Tendency takes place in the 30's, that does not make it a historical manga, or that Monster covers and takes place in certain historical periods of the 20th century, getting involved in certain historical issues, we just all know that it is not a historical manga. There are many examples of this, but at the same time this helps us understand what is a historical manga and what is not:
  A historical manga is one that, takes place in a certain historical period, whose story is directly affected by said period, the characters act and are entangled by said contexts, and the story itself seeks to encompass and exploit such historical time and place. It is not enough if a story is set in a time period when this does not seem to affect the story and the characters, and it is not really interested in history, it only seeks to use it to justify certain aspects of the work.

  Having made this introduction, I will move on to the actual review:
  After expressing the previous points, Cesare appears, which, before going into deep details, is the most "pure" historical manga that I have found. Any work about history will seek to balance the historical aspect with a bit of fiction so as not to overwhelm the reader. Cesare does not care much about that.
  This manga covers the historical period of the last years of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century in Italy; you know, the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Era with the Renaissance. More specifically, the story follows the infamous and well-known Spanish Borgia family, especially the early years of the famous Cesare Borgia in his days at the University of Pisa.
  But let's get to the point with the strongest aspect in this manga: the artwork. The art is superb, orgasmic I would say. It can easily enter the top 10 mangas with best art. You may not get hooked on the plot but you will stay for the terrific art; it is incredible how it captures the essence of Italy in the Renaissance.
  I could even say that simply because of the art it could already be awarded a “Pass”, regardless of the story. But let's move on to that point, perhaps the most problematic: Not everyone will love the story and its pace. When I said that Cesare is not interested in balancing history and entertainment, I meant it. This manga is just a justification to talk about history, pure and simple. I'm telling you right now that at a certain moment there are three chapters in a row just about a conversation about history. And even if you are a hardcore history lover you will find some problematic points in the reading of the story, specifically regarding its protagonist: although Cesare Borgia is the de facto protagonist, Angelo, a new Florentine student at the University of Pisa is the "official" protagonist, the viewer by which we will observe the story. And here is one of the most negative points, at least at the beginning of the manga: Angelo is a weak character, uninteresting, and quite hypocritical: I don't blame him for being enamored with Cesare and with every Spanish character, they are the stars in this manga, but not to the point of betraying his own and feeling alien to his own countrymen. It just doesn't work.
  Another trouble point may be the reader's expectation: a story about the Borgia family? The Game of Thrones of manga! Well, not exactly. The story does revolve around political intrigues, philosophy, religion, and war themes, as well as hinting at shady issues, such as the slight implication of incest - Cesare and his young sister Lucrecia - but it does so in a serious, academic way, not interested in making it "exciting" for modern audiences.
  There are many moments when you wish many other things to happen on another level, but you will have to be painfully patient.
  Still, there comes a time where you reconcile yourself to the story, its content and form and really immerse yourself in it, and there it becomes great.
  There are many well-known faces, in addition, Christopher Columbus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Nicolás Machiavelli, and other historical figures have their moment.
  TL;DR
  In short, it is a manga for true history lovers, and if you are not, you may stay for the art, but to be honest, it will get dense and dull.
  My score so far is an 8, since the manga is not finished and it seems that it will not in a while.
  If you like history in its high expression, check out Cesare.

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• 

  ekubogod

  85/100
  Cesare is a complicated, beautiful, underrated masterpiece

  Edit: The English scanlation is up and running again! I am doing proofreading and typesetting. I can't link it because when I tried it was taken down for promoting illicit copyrighted content.
  Cesare: the Destroyer Creator is about the political child prodigy Cesare Borgia (pronounced Chess-ar-ay Bor-ja, by the way), along with his stoic but skeptical right-hand man Miguel and the innocent but intelligent peasant-born Angelo. Cesare navigates the corrupt, difficult world of the Catholic Church as he strives for his father to become the next pope. Born illegitimately, he cannot technically become a cardinal himself but makes every attempt to establish himself as a valuable member of the Holy See. But in the midst of Italian in-fighting, religious conflict, and the discrimination of his Spanish heritage, this is no small task. It also explores the infamous Medici and Borgia families.
  This manga is incredibly underrated. Compared to every other historical manga I have read, it is by far the most well-researched. I can't vouch for its historical accuracy as I have not done much research myself on Cesare Borgia, but it comes across like it knows what it's talking about. It's not a light read, not at all. It's info-heavy and extremely detailed. Most other historical manga will modernize the story just a bit to make it more digestible, but not Cesare. It reads like it was written in the time period it's based in. It helps if you know a bit about Italian/Catholic history and geography first, which I didn't, so I must admit some parts can be confusing and you might have to reread to absorb everything. For this reason it was honestly quite hard to read for me, but the characters and art carried it in my opinion.
  But nevertheless, it deserves much more praise, especially from the historical seinen community. I can tell that some might be turned away by the art style as it's very yaoi/shojo-like (since that was what the mangaka did before I think) however it does not read like that at all. (There's way more old men than pretty boys lol)
  The art is simply incredible as well. It captures Rennaisance Italy as if the mangaka was able to time travel and draw from life.
  Cesare is a multifaceted, morally gray character in the likes of Griffith, but in his case, his character is based on an actual person. He is a manipulator and takes advantage of the corruption to advance his own agenda. However, in many cases, he is actually the most morally sound person in the room. It's quite an interesting dynamic.
  Angelo exists as a sort-of narrator, he observes Cesare's antics from a more unbiased perspective and starkly contrasts Cesare. Miguel appears to blindly serve Cesare, but over time it is revealed he is in fact his own person, he can see right through Cesare's manipulation and recognizes he's hard to truly understand, but he lacks the confidence to express his conflicting ideas.
  At times, it seems like it's about to go in a strange, romantic direction, there's sometimes a lot of tension between Cesare and Miguel or even with his sister, but it never strays from its political-driven plot. In this way I feel it's most realistic, perhaps it's just a cultural difference from today, I wouldn't know, but I strangely appreciate it.
  Be warned, from what I can tell, not all of Cesare is translated into English (only up to volume 9 iirc, 79 chapters) and it seems that the scanlation team has no intention of continuing as their website is gone and I can't find any more information. I've also had trouble finding out if the manga was canceled or if the mangaka is still slowly publishing because the English speaking fanbase is so small that almost nothing about it exists online. It's a shame, honestly.
  I have a hard time pitching it to people, as a story about corruption in the Catholic church probably does not seem very interesting for most people, but the intricacy of the philosophy, politics, and psychological battles are on par or even better than those of Berserk, Vagabond, Vinland Saga etc.
  If you are interested in history and religion and perhaps politics as well, I could not recommend Cesare more. It's complicated with many moving parts, but at the same time, it's a beautiful look into the power-hungry side of the Catholic church.

  
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• 

  Alriven

  90/100
  Proof for the saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover"

  Cesare is a great example of the saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover" I have come across in manga. The word "underrated" is thrown around so often that it loses its meaning at times, but various aspects considered, I can definitely say that Cesare is a truly underrated manga. Hidden behind that seemingly bland cover page is one of the most detailed artworks in manga I've ever seen that brings 15th century Italy to life. But it's not just good artwork without any substance either, as it conveys a highly intricate storyline.

  This manga is well researched and quasi-fictional in nature which tells a story about the struggle for power among various houses and factions of Italy in the 15th century with the struggle for popedom being the ultimate one. The story primarily takes place in the city of Pisa, with Milan, Florence and Rome being secondary focuses. This manga is heavy on dialogue as is expected from a storyline so complex. It takes it's time to give a thorough understanding of the political situation of Italy during the early chapters, so one doesn't have to be well versed in history to be able to enjoy the manga. But on the other hand, if one isn't fond of history, then completing this manga will prove to be a task. There are historical references dotting the entire manga and multiple chapters solely dedicated to explaining history. Action is not the primary focus of the manga and it's almost completely void of it, with the exception of a brief arc which focuses on the military aspects.

  The two main characters of the story are Cesare de Borgia, a Spaniard from the aristocratic family of Borgia, and Angelo de Canossa, a plebian. The bright-minded students from across Europe get enrolled in the La Sapienza University of Pisa, which is where the focus of the story lies early on. Angelo's character in a way represents the readers themselves, as he's naive and ignorant of worldly affairs in the beginning, as are most of the readers, and through him, we get to know more about the political situation of Italy during the time. In addition to these two and the supporting characters, we also get to see a lot of historical figures of the Italian Renaissance. 

  The artwork is absolutely beautiful. The characters have a slight shoujo-ish look to them and look really good. The detailing of the background as well as the Italian architecture is absolutely magnificent right from the beginning of the manga. 

  However, there are a few gripes I have with the manga. First of all, certain parts of the manga felt really slow paced even for a historical manga fan like me, so I can see some fans not being able to be comfortable with it. Secondly, the representation of the French in the manga, as these stupid warmongers, is kind of one-sided. So if you're a French, it's most likely that you're not gonna enjoy it very much. Thirdly, although the ending was a good stopping point and really well executed, we know from history about how dramatic the situation in Italy became after the events in the manga, so I really wish the manga had continued the storyline.

  TLDR; Cesare is a really good read for historical manga fans out there who want to see a purely political side of the power struggle during the Renaissance period rather than the usual military one.

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